(SEATTLE)--The four clocks on historic King Street Station’s signature tower will temporarily be stopped as upgrades and repairs to the clocks continue later this week, to be completed in early 2009.

Major improvements to the clocks are part of Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT’s) $26.5 million restoration of the landmark building. The work includes cleaning, repairing internal mechanisms, replacing broken clock face glass, repainting clock hands and numbers, and restoring the clocks’ neon illumination. The upgrades will restore the 100-year-old clocks to their original beauty and ensure that they keep accurate time for the next one hundred years.

Returned to its original grandeur, King Street Station will be transformed into a modern transportation hub supporting connections with Seattle neighborhoods and beyond. The city’s goal is to have a centralized boarding point for Amtrak long distance rail and Sound Transit commuter rail with convenient access to buses and, in the future, Link light rail and the Seattle Streetcar.

The Seattle Department of Transportation builds, maintains and operates Seattle's $8 billion transportation infrastructure. To further Mayor Nickels’ goal to get Seattle moving, the department manages short- and long-term investments in streets, bridges, pavement and trees, that better connect the city with the region.